The Dollmaker
by Miss Evil Muffins
Summary: Sometimes, the doll is less fragile than her maker. A Komamiki fairytale AU.


**The Dollmaker**

Once upon a time, there was a man who made a doll.

"It's finished!" Komaeda wiped the sweat from his brow.

His first doll, Nanami, cute as she was, was useless as a medical doll. All she would do, day in and day out, was play video games. This one would be different.

"Wake up, Tsumiki." He murmured into the ear of his new creation.

"Y-yes? May I help you?" she replied back, hesitantly. Her exposed joints creaked as she attempted to sit up on the table.

He had cut her plum-colored hair himself, but now that she sat naked before him, he realised that he done quite a hideous job of it. He prayed that she wouldn't notice it once she had access to a mirror.

She continued to stare at him expectantly.

"Do you know your name?" he asked gently.

"Tsu-Tsumiki?" she questioned as she surveyed the basement workroom.

"Very good!" the doll's creator smiled at her warmly. She was clearly very smart, just as expected.

"Master?" Nanami peeped around the corner into the room. Komaeda had been hoping that the pink-haired doll's nap would have continued a bit longer so as not to overwhelm the new addition.

"Are you 'Master'?" Tsumiki asked Nanami, concern in her voice.

"I'm Nanami. He's Master." Nanami pointed toward Komaeda with one hand while rubbing her eyes with the other.

"Oh no. I'm so stupid! Of course I'm wrong… Ohhh." The new doll began to bawl her glass eyes out.

_Perhaps this one hadn't turned out quite right either, after all…._

* * *

"Come in!"

"You shouldn't let just anyone in, you know." Replied the newcomer as he hung his coat on the hook near the door.

"Who else would bother to come and see me but you, Hinata?"

Snow was fluttering softly around Komaeda's tiny wooded cabin. Hi s neighbor, Hajime Hinata, would occasionally come by to check on him. Hinata had no dolls of his own and thus enjoyed visiting with Nanami as well.

"How is she?" he asked.

"Who do mean, Hinata?"

"Ugh you know who I mean. The new one!"

"Oh, well you always seem so fond of my Nanami, I figured you must be here to see her."

Hinata peered into the sitting room.

"Is that her?"

The two artificial girls were sitting on the floor playing video games together.

"I wish I was as talented as you…" the brunette man sighed as he turned back to Komaeda.

"Nonsense, Hinata. Someone like me couldn't be called talented. It's only luck. Besides, we just haven't found your special talent yet. I know you must be good at something too. I can feel it."

"If you say so. Anyway, are you feeling any better? Have you been remembering to take your medicine?"

"Are you trying to be my wife, Hinata? Because if we ever got married, I had always thought I'd make the better wife..."

"Stop being gross, Komaeda. I'm sure you don't need me worrying about you anymore anyway now that you have the girls. Speaking of that, how is Tsumiki working out for you? She doing her job?"

"Tsumiki, can you come here, please?"

She trotted into the room. "Yes?"

"Can you get me my pills?"

"Of course!" she opened up the cabinet near the kitchen sink. "It's 3:00, so this is the one!" she handed him the corked amber bottle. The pills that could be seen through the glass were unappetizingly enormous.

"Thank you, Tsumiki."

"Can I do anything else for you? Bandages? Shots? Lots of shots?" the doll's eyes sparkled.

Komaeda laughed. "No, I'm okay. Go back to your game."

Tsumiki did as told.

"She seems capable." Hinata noted.

"She turned out as eccentric as Nanami, but she is good at what she was created to do."

"Well, I'm glad you have her here to help you, but seriously, are you getting any better? What about going back to work? Every time I'm in town, people ask me about you."

Komaeda broke away from Hinata's stern gaze and instead studied his palms as he spoke. "Hinata, it was all just luck. I was never really good at anything. It was just luck…and now it's ran out."

* * *

In the great kingdom of Hope, many people were born with magical powers called 'talents'. Some people could use their talent to heal, for example, and others could give life in the form of creating living dolls. The dolls were a great boon to those who either had no talent or those whose talents didn't match up with their needs.

Nagito Komaeda, however, seemed as if he had a talent for everything he touched. It was unheard of for a person to have more than one special skill. Komaeda's answer to this was that his talent must be 'Luck'. He became a famous healer in Hope, able to cure anyone through his special luck magic. Though, strangely, the one person he couldn't help was himself. It was as if his good luck was constantly chased after by misfortune, like two wicked little children playing tag. His parents were killed in a carriage accident when he was young and these days he found himself growing sicker and sicker with a mysterious illness. He was eventually forced to quit his job and moved away from the town into the forest. His luck magic allowed him to create the doll Nanami, who he thought could help him on his bad days, but contrary to the way his magic usually turned out, Nanami was something of a fluke. His luck now seemed to be back on track with Tsumiki.

Or so he thought at the time. On some days, Komaeda wasn't so sure. Recently Tsumiki had taken to disappearing for hours at a time, once or twice a week. Whenever he questioned Nanami about it, she would simply shrug and go continue to play her game.

After this had continued for a month, Komaeda decided it was time to for a professional opinion. Even though he had customised the dolls to his liking and given them life, the base bodies were made by a mechanic.

Komaeda dialed the number for Hinata's friend, Souda.

As he waited for the rotary dial to return after each number, he contemplated just where the nurse doll could be going. Was she having a tryst with some man-doll in town? Was that even possible? Of course she wanted to get away from him. How foolish he was. She probably treasured every moment she was gone from his little cabin. It must be unbearable waiting on someone as disgusting as himself.

"What? No way, man. That should not be happening." Once the phone connected, Komaeda had explained the situation to Souda.

"And the other one is just playing video games? They shouldn't have that much free will. I've never heard of this before. …Hello? Hello?"

A hacking cough could be heard from Komaeda's end, followed by a thud.

* * *

"Wake up, Master."

Komaeda fought to open his eyes and fend off the dream he was having.

Tsumiki was looking down at him.

"Tsumiki…" he mumbled as he slowly sat up. "I was having a dream. We were on an island, and you had just murdered someone…" Komaeda said groggily, rubbing his eyes.

He took a glance around. He was sitting up on the couch in the living room. Nanami, seated on the floor, had paused her game to watch him with concern. There was a pile of bloody rags in the trash; he must have coughed up some blood before passing out. The phone still lay on rug.

"M-murder? Why would I do that!? You don't think I'm trying to kill you, do you? I'm doing my very best to help you…" her eyes became goopy again.

He put his hand on her cheek. It was cold and inhuman. "You're doing such a good job, Tsumiki." Still dazed, he continued to rub her cheek with his thumb until something startled him into full alertness. His thumb met with a hole that should decidedly not be there. He grabbed her by the shoulder, pushing her away to arm's length. Not only was there damage to her face, but also her arm and leg. The internal armature could be seen through the gashes in the artificial skin.

"What happened to you?" Komaeda's eyes widened in horror.

"Some girls in town were just having some fun. I'm sorry… this will probably be difficult for you to get fixed, won't it? Oh, please don't fix it! I'm not worth it."

"Nanami, go get some bandages." Komaeda stood from the couch, still woozy.

"Okay." The pink haired doll exited the room and returned with the first aid kit. She quickly disappeared again after dropping it off.

Komaeda began to bandage the wounds. They weren't causing her any pain, but he just couldn't leave her looking that way. Surely it must be impolite to look at a young lady's insides.

"Tsumiki, please tell me why you keep going out by yourself. I know that I'm trash and you probably don't want to be anywhere near me, but I want to make sure that you're safe. I care about you."

"I…I can't tell you yet. It's a secret! I really like being with you, though. Y-you're not gross at all! You can't help being sick…"

Komaeda gave a sharp laugh. "It's not about my being sick. It's because…never mind." He sat back down on the couch. He felt a squirming in his insides and he really had no desire to throw up on his creation after whatever else had happened to her.

Komaeda pulled a blanket over himself and lay down again.

"I'll go make you some tea." Tsumiki turned towards the kitchen.

A hand came out from the blanket and grabbed her bandaged wrist. "Please don't leave me anymore." He whispered.

If she responded, he drifted off before he could hear.

This time, Komaeda dreamed of being stabbed in the thigh. He woke with a start to find his actual leg feeling pins-and-needles. He had curled himself into a ball and was crushing the life out of one leg with the other.

The tiny cabin was silent.

"Nanami? …Tsumiki?" he called tentatively, brow furrowing.

The silence answered back that they were clearly not home.

He tossed the blanket off and headed for the door, quite disappointing both his coat and hat when he didn't so much as glance at them before leaving the house in nothing but a cotton shirt and slacks.

He jogged past Hinata's house. The lights were on. Komaeda considered asking for help in looking for the girls, but he really shouldn't bother Hinata with his problems. It would be too selfish to make someone come out in the cold. Hinata's probably in there all warm and cozy with some cocoa, thinking about how glad he is that he hadn't forced himself to visit with Komaeda today.

There were no foot prints anywhere around. It must have snowed again while he slept.

Komaeda trudged into the forest. Maybe they had gone into town, but either way, he was counting on his luck to take him to the right place.

He wasn't as concerned for Nanami as he was for Tsumiki. Tsumiki had been acting so strange and was still so new. Nanami, at least, knew her way around the town and not to go into the forest.

The forest was nicknamed 'Despair' by some of older, more superstitious folk. The tree-cover was so heavy, that like a sword of Damocles, the darkness threatened to come down on the head of anyone foolish enough to wish to test its power.

The man called out for the doll over and over. Quite some time passed. It was hard to tell how late it was due to the smothering darkness, but he guessed that it was now nighttime.

The cold was slithering into his insides. He coughed into his hand, finding redness on his palm after.

He felt himself slowing down. He also felt his foot connect with a root protruding from the snow. Maybe it was a small creature, instead of a root. He thought he heard a chittering sound. Maybe he imagined it, like he was imagining his cheek touching the frigid snow. No, he wasn't imagining it. He was lying in the snow. It was so soft and fluffy. So comforting…

"Master? …Komaeda! Nagito!" A female voice wailed, rousing him somewhat.

Tsumiki stood before him, like Botticelli's Venus with ball- joints, snow falling instead of flower petals. Though completely naked, her body revealed nothing more than that of a child's play doll.

"I'm so sorry…" She knelt down next to him and did her best to prop him up against a tree.

"Are you ever not crying?" he whispered.

Indeed, tears were streaming down her face. "I'm so sorry! I didn't think that you would come out here to find me! I'm not worth worrying about..."

"Tsumiki…why?" was all that he could manage. His vision was like trying to see through a fogged window.

"I just wanted to help you! I won't let you die!" There was something clutched in her hand. "This flower! I found it for you! It only blooms in winter."

"Is it to… put on my grave?" Komaeda breathed with a wry smile.

She scooted closer to him. He could tell that even the bandages were gone, exposing her framework. Getting snow in there probably wasn't a good idea.

"No! Please listen…kiss….your lips…" Komaeda tried to focus on her words, but it was impossible. He felt his eyes close.

Tsumiki scrabbled to press the flower to the unconscious man's lips. She mushed it against them with all her might, but nothing happened.

"No…no…" Did he need to do it himself? In desperation, she kissed the tiny flower herself and then pressed her own lips to his. Real humans were so soft, but they were supposed to be warm, weren't they? She wanted to try kissing them again someday when they were warm.

Still, nothing but breathing that was growing rapidly shallower.

_Zzzt zzzt_

"Agh!" the doll squeaked as she felt a buzzing from inside her body. She couldn't feel pain exactly, but perhaps she would describe it as her body sending her a message that things were very much not right inside.

"I'm really so sorry." She laid her head in his lap and closed her eyes. Indeed, humans were so soft. "I'm such a failure."

Before shutting off, she saw two figures coming toward them.

* * *

Heaven was surprisingly confining. _Oh, wait. This was the other place, wasn't it? _His eternal punishment must be having a snake coiled around his body. Snakes didn't usually smell good, though. Like laundry soap…

Tsumiki fell of the couch with a thud, letting go her hold on Komaeda, as he quickly sat up. Hell looked suspiciously like the inside of Hinata's cabin.

"He's awake!" Nanami shouted from a chair placed near the couch.

"Nanami?" had he fallen asleep at Hinata's place and dreamed the whole thing?

"You're okay! I'm so glad!" Tsumiki stayed put on the floor, sobbing once again.

"You're an idiot." Hinata said, as he entered the room.

"What happened?" Komaeda asked, still not quite believing that he wasn't dead.

"You," Hinata crossed his arms and put on his very best scolding face, "a sick person, went out in the snow with no coat. It's like you wanted to kill yourself. Nanami came and got me after Tsumiki got beat up, because she thought you two might need some help. By the time we came back to your place, you were both gone. Nanami's the only one with any sense around here. Thankfully, I was able to get Souda to make an emergency visit to fix up Tsumiki."

"Don't say that. You'll make Tsumiki cry more. She has plenty of sense. I'm the only one here who doesn't. She tried her best to help me… I think."

Tsumiki stood up from the floor. She was wearing one of Hinata's shirts. It was both too large and too small at the same time. "I'm really, really sorry. You can punish me however you want." She wibbled.

"You don't need to be punished, Tsumiki. Can you please just tell me why I'm still alive and where you've been going?"

"I'm so sorry I kept it secret. I didn't want to disappoint you if I failed. It was really so sure I would fail…I was…um…I was going into town to research at the library for something that could cure your illness, but I couldn't find anything. On the last trip, yesterday, I overheard a man in a long coat and scarf talking to a hamster. Um, it was really cute! The hamster, I mean. He was telling it about some black magic ritual. So I asked him if it was possible to cure someone with magic. He told me to go into the enchanted forest and find the fairy, Monomi, and she would lead me to the magic flower that could fix any sickness. His hamster would show me the way."

_Explains the furry thing I tripped over_, Komaeda thought.

"On my way out of town, the girls from the before found me again and ripped my clothes…"

"You didn't try to stop them?" Hinata raised an eyebrow.

"No… I didn't need the clothes. I'm not a person."

"Tsumiki, you are just as important to me as any flesh and blood person. Please don't let anyone do anything like that to you ever again. I love you, Tsumiki."

"I think we should leave them alone now, Hinata."

* * *

From that day on, Komaeda found himself to be completely cured; it was as if he had never been ill a day in his life. He returned to his job as a doctor and Tsumiki was at his side as the best nurse anyone had ever seen. After some discussion, Nanami decided to live with Hinata, who enjoyed her company as much as Komaeda enjoyed Tsumiki's. In fact, it seemed that Komaeda's luck was out in full force when he made Nanami, contrary to his initial belief. It turned out that his luck had allowed him to create the perfect companion for his best friend. Not only that, but if had never been sick, he would never had been able to meet his dear Tsumiki.

The four of them lived happily ever after.

_The end._

* * *

Note: I know that in the notes in my last Komamiki fic, I promised another story set on the island. I lied! This idea wouldn't leave me alone and I had to write it first. It's filled with things that I love, so I hope you enjoyed it too. Please look forward to the next story, which will be the more canon-set island one I had promised.


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